Random Bytes

Tips, tricks, tweaks, and thoughts on web design, Web 2.0, CSS, net search, writing, photography, blogging, and more, from journalist Pam Blackstone, publisher of the popular WebLens Search PortalSign up for a feed and get posts automatically.

Thursday, June 02, 2011

Lots of new developments at WebLens right now. We've been twittering up a storm, so we've just launched The WebLens Daily, a handy digest of relevant Twitter posts delivered to your desktop each and every day. Subscribe or follow us on Twitter to stay up to date with tweets relating to Internet and net search news, as well as web design, social media, and SEO and online marketing trends. Updated daily with fresh and timely content, and links to useful resources and interesting and entertaining sites. Drop by today and let us know what you think.

Announcing the brand new WebLens Toolbar. Keep all your favourite resources right at your fingertips, no matter what site you are viewing. Compatible with IE, Firefox, and Chrome, the WebLens Toolbar can be downloaded from any page on the site. It comes loaded with all the WebLens menu contents you've come to know and love, plus loads of extra goodies, like quick links to Facebook, Twitter, local weather, Amazon deals, Groupon, Flixster movies, Travelocity, TripAdvisor, Youtube, and more!

The WebLens Toolbar also includes a radio player and one particularly useful resource — Similar Sites, which displays thumbnails of sites similar to the one you are on. Best of all, the toolbar is fully customizable, with a marketplace of thousands more apps to choose among.

Thursday, May 26, 2011

About a week ago, I posted that my Fractallicious fractal art designs were now available as fine art prints through RedBubble. Now, I'm pleased to report that you can buy my artwork printed on merchandise too. I have set up a Zazzle store for Fractalllicious, where you can buy these lively images printed on everything from buttons, magnets, and mousepads to t-shirts, ties, even shoes.

Most products ship within 24 hours, and Zazzle provides international mirror sites so you can shop in your own country in your own currency. They also feature regular promotions. Right now, they're offering 15% off stickers, with the coupon code STICKERSALE1, 12% off prints and posters with the coupon code POSTERSALE12, 12% off t-shirts with the coupon codeTSHIRTSALE12, and 10% off iPhone and iPad skins with the coupon code SPRINGCASE10. These offers are valid through July 1, 2011. Whether you're shopping for yourself, a friend, or you're just curious, drop by and have a look.

Sunday, May 15, 2011

After a long absence teaching English overseas, I'm back creating fractal art and I've found a promising new venue for selling my work online.

I have sold my work through microstock sites, and still license it (for commercial use) through Fractallicious, but I have never found a satisfactory print on demand solution. After a disappointing experience with CafePress (standing out in the hordes of mediocre merchandise was a challenge), I was a little gun-shy about print on demand, but I thought I'd give RedBubble a try nevertheless.

I am extremely impressed by the quality and originality of the art and photography to be found at this site. It is much more oriented to serious artists than sites like CafePress and Zazzle. The site is easy to use, for both buyers and sellers. It's a snap to upload your work and create a listing, and the site offers various widgets for cross-promotion through Facebook and Twitter, etc. Artwork can be printed on a variety of product types, from fine art to t-shirts. You set a base price, and they handle printing and fulfillment.

I have just finished setting up a store at RedBubble, where you can buy my fractal art printed on a variety of products, from fine art prints to greeting cards, t-shirts, and stickers. Among the products available are several rainbow images that are great for Pride fund-raising and gay and lesbian events.

Whether you're an artist looking to sell, or someone seeking a distinctive fine art print, drop by and have a look.

Monday, August 04, 2008

This is WAY cool! I haven't blogged for a while, but I just had to share this! Ferrofluid is a liquid that becomes polarised in the presence of a magnetic field. Here's the technical definition, straight from Wikipedia: "Ferrofluids are composed of nanoscale ferromagnetic particles suspended in a carrier fluid, usually an organic solvent or water. The particles are coated with a surfactant to prevent their agglomeration. Although the name may suggest otherwise, ferrofluids do not display ferromagnetism, since they do not retain magnetization in the absence of an externally applied field. In fact, ferrofluids display (bulk-scale) paramagnetism, and are often referred to as being "superparamagnetic" due to their large magnetic susceptibility."

A bunch of scientific mumbo-jumbo to me, I'm afraid, but the behaviour of the fluid is fascinating to watch. This YouTube clip is wonderfully entertaining and demonstrates the fluid's seemingly impossible properties. There are lots of examples on YouTube, accompanied — not surprisingly — by abundant debate re whether or not it's CGI fakery. There's even a television commercial using the fluid.

Kinda reminds me of those 50's Wooly Willy toys we had as kids, with a goofy-looking guy and iron filings you dragged around with a magnet, to give him hair and a beard.

Ain't the web grand?! Every now and then, one tends to forget the incredible marvels this technology has brought to our desktops.

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About Me

Professional writer, photographer, speaker, and educator, Pam Blackstone is published in a variety of print and electronic media. Her net search site, WebLens.org, is popular with casual surfers and serious researchers alike. Pam's professional site is at Shutterscribe and her digital art is at Fractallicious.